Wipro’s net profit rises 38% in Q4, revenue up 9%

Software services exporter Wipro Ltd on Tuesday said that its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of 2018-19 grew 37.7% year-on-year while revenue rose 8.98% for the same period.

The Bengaluru-based company’s consolidated net profit for the three months ended March 31 2019 stood at Rs 2,483 crore, up from Rs 1,803 crore in the corresponding period of 2017-18.

Consolidated revenue for the quarter increased to Rs 15,006.30 crore from Rs 13,768.60 crore in the previous fiscal, with Wipro’s mainstay IT services business growing 11.1%. The IT services business recorded an operating margin of 19% for the quarter.

“We have built a strong foundation for growth on the back of a healthy order book and continued investments in big bet areas of digital, cybersecurity, engineering services and the cloud,” said Wipro’s chief executive officer and managing director Abidali Z Neemuchwala.

The company’s chief financial officer Jatin Dalal said that Wipro’s rigorous execution and focus on improved quality of revenues had resulted in expansion of operating margins by 1.8% for the year.

Wipro also said that it had closed big deals globally. Among those were a multi-year engagement with a North American financial services company, a digital workplace transformation contract from a manufacturer from Europe, an efficient electricity trading app-management contract with a European power company, and a contract to build an enterprise content management system for a US retailer.

Wipro’s board also approved a share buyback proposal of up to Rs 10,500 crore, comprising up to 32.3 crore shares at Rs 325 apiece via a tender offer.

Shares of Wipro closed at Rs 281.10 apiece on the BSE, down 2.45% from the previous close. However, the earnings were announced after market hours and the drop could have been on account of Wipro’s announcement earlier in the day that it was investigating a potential security breach.

Wipro’s bigger rivals Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys had last Friday reported healthy revenue and profit growth for the quarter.